Pope announces new match for peace

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Wednesday revealed plans for a new “match for peace” as he met Ronaldinho and other football stars at the Vatican. The charity match will be staged at Rome’s Olympic Stadium on May 29, the day after the Champions League final in Milan. The first match for peace took place in 2014 and featured Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona and a host of other top players or former players. Funds raised went to charities including Scholas Occurentes, a network which links 400,000 schools across the world and was set up by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Sciences. The current pope was very involved with the project when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. The decision to hold another match for peace follows a visit by Maradona to the Vatican last year.